Chocolate
by jtav
Summary: "This all she wants. This is all she can have." A small gift provokes great uncertainty.


The intercom buzzes to life. "Ms. Lawson, could—could I see you for a moment?"

Miranda smiles to herself as she sterilizes a scalpel. Kaidan is always so very formal except when they're alone in his quarters. It's charming, really. He sounds a bit nervous too. Her smile widens. A nervous Kaidan usually heralds an amusing time for her. Simple seduction has its place, but these games they play give her more enjoyment than she has any right to experience. Maybe this time she can get a few of his clothes off.

Kaidan sits on the edge of his bed, running his thumb over a rectangular, palm-sized object. The light catches it for a moment, and Miranda sees a flash of silver. She squints. Is that... tinfoil? Odd. She can imagine a few toys that might come in that kind of wrapper, though none of that particular size and shape. She shrugs. She's up for almost anything once.

Kaidan looks up as she approaches and colors slightly. "I got you something." He holds out the rectangle. Up close, she can see that it's not tinfoil, but some kind of candy wrapper. Probably a bit of junk he picked up from one of the duct rats during their last visit to the Citadel. Sweets are almost impossible to come by due to rationing, but the wrappers are good for disguising contraband.

She takes it. The paper crinkles pleasantly under her fingers. Her face warms. Kaidan has given her a gift for no apparent reason. She looks at him. He stares at her, lips pursed in thought and trying to gauge her reaction. Gifts are hardly ever true gifts. Her father wanted something in return. The Illusive Man wanted something in return. Kaidan must want something. They aren't even friends, really. It's a mutually beneficial relationship so they can have a little fun and stay sane as the world crumbles around them. Well, at least what he wants is easy to guess and easy to provide.

"Open it," he prompts.

She does, and nearly drops the package in shock. Not only is it candy, it's chocolate. A milk chocolate bar carefully and meticulously wrapped. Chocolate is as rare and precious as gold on the black market these days. She doesn't want to think about what Kaidan went through to get this. She especially doesn't want to think about why.

"Do you like it?" Kaidan looks dreadfully, terribly earnest. Like a puppy. "I mean you aren't allergic to it or anything?"

"No, I'm not allergic." It's a struggle to keep her voice even. Hysteria chips away at her, threatening to erode her iron control at long last. The mere thought of the "perfect woman" having a food allergy would have been enough for her father to eliminate her and begin again. Not that he let her have sweets. Those were a wasteful indulgence that could ruin her carefully crafted diet. She didn't even have chocolate until she was eight years old. Niket had snuck her a piece while she was recovering from the surgery that gave her her implants. She'd been in terrible pain and half-groggy, but it was still the sweetest, most decadent thing she had ever tasted, all the moreso for being forbidden. And Niket hadn't wanted anything for it.

Look how that turned out.

Kaidan isn't anything like Niket. The look he gives her, hungry and predatory, is a thousand times more honest than Niket's protestations of friendship, and he asks for nothing she can't give. She'll prove it. "Thank you." She sits beside him on the bed, their legs almost close enough to touch, and breaks off a piece.

She hasn't had chocolate for the better part of a year, and the taste is almost a shock. Rich and sweet. It's almost enough to make her not care why Kaidan is giving her chocolate, as long as he is. Almost. She lets the piece set on her tongue as the sensations wash over her. Forbidden pleasure distilled into half a gram. More than she has the right to. Another bite. Then another.

"You've got some on your mouth." Kaidan mimes wiping his lip, but his eyes are fixed on her like it's her and not the candy that's meant to be eaten.

_Just as planned._ "Do I?" She manages a raised eyebrow and challenging smile, but it feels a bit forced. This isn't about seduction. This is about proving that their relationship is neither more nor less than what she asked for. "You could lick it off."

Kaidan does a double take, and Miranda's grin becomes a little less forced. She loves the mixture of shock and arousal on his face. She's right him; he's spent his entire life having to control himself, but there's something primal and deliciously filthy beneath all that reserve. Nice to know she can bring that side out of him. "Unless you have a better idea?"

His eyes are dark, and his muscles tense under his shirt. "I, uh, think I do actually."

He grabs her shoulder and pulls her to him. Miranda has only a moment to register the sheer strength of him before his mouth is on her. Kaidan doesn't kiss at all like she thought he would. The pressure is gentle and steady, not wild and unchecked. She can feel the tension coiled within him, but he'll let her back away if that's what she wants.

It isn't what she wants. Miranda brings one arm around his shoulders and tangles her free hand in his hair. His hair is gloriously soft and faintly curly. She could happily spend an hour exploring the texture. The strong clean scent of him fills her nostrils. His tongue traces over her lips as he licks up the chocolate. And then she can taste the faint traces of sweet on him in turn. Strange guttural noises emerge from the back of his throat. Miranda feels smug. _Look what I've done to the famed Commander Alenko_. A rising tide of lust and power builds within her, and there's nothing else. No confusion. No false promises. No disappointment.

This is all she wants. This is all she can have.


End file.
